Getting to God

During times of deep trouble, God generates new and creative ways to break through the fear and pain to get to us even as we seek to get to God. Recent crises are unparalleled and world-changing. Life is a terminal condition. What we say on Sunday morning matters. Nothing is more important than communicating the power and presence of the living God, who for us and our broken dying world is strength, hope, healing, and salvation. And yet, the age-old challenge of how to name God in our world looms large. Amidst the immense challenges of preaching today, three preachers and teachers of preaching show a way forward by walking readers through a sermon-creation process for specific challenging circumstances that gets to God. This book demonstrates how preachers can proclaim God's grace in our world today by building on the theological grammar and preaching method proposed by Paul Scott Wilson. Sancken, Powery, and Rottman lead by example, showing preachers how to contextualize a theologically rich approach to preaching, expand the horizon of ministry, and equip preachers with a vital practice, that of learning to look for and name God's active presence in our world.


About the Author
Joni S. Sancken is associate professor of homiletics at United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio. She is an ordained pastor in the Mennonite Church USA and is the author of several books, including Words That Heal, and All Our Griefs to Bear.



Luke A. Powery is the dean of Duke University Chapel and associate professor of homiletics at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. He is an ordained Baptist minister (Progressive National Baptist) and the author and editor of several books, including co-author of Ways of the Word: Learning to Preach for Your Time and Place and a general editor of the nine-volume lectionary commentary series for preaching and worship, Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship.



John M. Rottman is the professor of preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was ordained in the Christian Reformed Church and served two congregations in the Toronto (Canada) area. Most recently, he has become passionate about prison theological education and what God is doing in prisons.